Getting Started with Access 2007
As you open Access 2007, the default environment (see Figure 34-1) is revealed. We’ll examine the Access environment in more detail later in this chapter, but you should understand the major components of the user interface as you get started using Access 2007. Even experienced Access developers are surprised at how different Access 2007 looks from previous versions.
Figure 34-1. The Access 2007 welcome screen provides a wealth of information.
Each time you open Access, the welcome screen may or may not look different, depending on whether you have elected to have Office Online periodically updated. In an effort to provide a high level of support for Microsoft Office users, Microsoft has equipped each of the Office applications with the ability to communicate directly with Microsoft’s Web servers and download new content to the user’s desktop. Notice the Automatically Update This Content from Office Online button in the Office Online box near the bottom-center of this main screen. This button configures Microsoft Access to look for new Office Online content each time you open Access. In fact, your Access Welcome Screen will likely look quite different from Figure 34-1 because of the content continuously released by Microsoft Office Online.
The center of the screen is dominated by the Microsoft Office Online “templates,” which are described in the next section. The right side of the screen contains a list of recently opened databases, while the left side of the screen contains a navigation bar for templates.
The Templates section
When you start Microsoft Access, you see the initial welcome screen (refer to Figure 34-1). For online users of Microsoft Access 2007, the content of the welcome screen changes from time to time as Microsoft updates the online templates available on the Microsoft Web site.
We’ll take a look at creating a new database in the “Creating a Database” section of this chapter. In the meantime, let’s take a look at the purpose of online templates. Microsoft has long been concerned that building Access databases is too difficult for most people. Not everyone takes the time to understand the rules governing database design, or to learn the intricacies of building tables, queries, forms, and reports.
Microsoft established the online templates repository as a way to provide beginners and other busy people the opportunity to download partially or completely built Access applications. The template databases cover many common business requirements such as inventory control and sales management. You may want to take a moment to explore the online templates, but they aren’t covered in these chapters about Access.
The File menu
Our main interest at the moment is the large round button in the upper-left corner of the main Access screen. This button, called the Office Button, opens the File menu (see Figure 34-2), which is the gateway to a large number of options for creating, opening, or configuring Access databases. Notice that a list of recently opened databases appears to the right of the buttons in the File menu.
Figure 34-2. The File menu contains many important commands.
Rather than discuss each of these commands at the moment, we’ll cover each command in detail as we work through the Access user interface. For the moment, notice the New command at the very top of the File menu. We’ll use this button to create a new Access database in the next section.
Note
Some confusion exists over the name of the large, round button you see in the upper-left corner of the main Access window. Most users call this button the File button and the drop-down that appears as this button is clicked the File menu. However, Microsoft refers to the round button as the Microsoft Office Button and its drop-down as the Office menu. You’ll see both expressions used in this book, but in all cases we’re referring to the large, round button in the upper-left corner of the main Access 2007 screen.